Andrew Luck already running out of time to join all-time greats at QB

Andrew Luck is the highest-paid quarterback and player in the NFL. But he is not the league's best QB if we're judging by the number of Super Bowl appearances and championships he has won — zero and zero.

Fair or not, that's ultimately how quarterbacks are judged.

Is Luck eventually going to take his place alongside the likes of Tom Brady and Joe Montana as super talented and super successful on the field? Or is he destined to be another Dan Fouts or Warren Moon, a Hall of Fame quarterback who never made it to a Super Bowl?

Luck turns 28 in September. By Brady’s 28th birthday, he already had won three Super Bowls on his way to five titles, plus two more appearances in the big game. Montana had two Super Bowl victories at that juncture on his way to four overall. Another four-time champ, Terry Bradshaw, won two Super Bowls by age 27.

John Elway, another all-time great who Luck is often compared to because of their Stanford roots and similar skills, won his two Super Bowls in his late 30s, but he had appeared in his first two by age 27.

Peyton Manning, the Colts legend who was jettisoned when Luck was drafted, won his first Super Bowl at 29 and appeared in three more title games in his 30s, including his Super Bowl 50 victory with Denver. Brett Favre in Green Bay had been to two Super Bowls and was victorious in one by age 28.

As was the case for Fouts with the Chargers and Moon with the Oilers, both of whom made the playoffs multiple times, a key question is whether the Colts have surrounded their sixth-year signal caller with enough talent to get to the promised land.

Another key question: Will Luck be healthy enough after January surgery on his throwing shoulder to start the season-opener on the road against the Rams?